A MEMORABLE OCCASION

Taranaki Daily News, 11 August 1930, Page 11

A MEMORABLE OCCASION

big crowd AT FOURTH test Taranakl well, represented. MARVELLOUS HUMOUR OF VISITORS • -Over forty thousand people, it is said, gathered at Athletic Park, Wellington, on Saturday to witness the final test match between New Zealand and Britain, and of these it seemed that one in every two or three was a Taranakian. From the Taranaki point of view this fact was, apart from the game itself, probably the most remarkable feature of a great occasion. Ono could not walk through Lambtbn Quay or Courtenay Place during the morning without stumbling across them at every step, and after a tinie the commonplace observation was “You here too! Is there anyone left in Taranaki?” Most of them seemed to meet at the Royal Oak afterwards, which was to all intents and purposes a. Taranaki club fpr the time being. Certainly never before has there been such a great'‘exodus'from'the province' with- a single goal and a- single-pur-pose. i. ;•• ••■■ - •.- But after all, where was Taranaki really amidst that vast concourse? It is impossible, to estimate the unending traffic that streamed into Wellington froip (tj.ll pp.rtS; of New Zealand; ,pn Friday, throughout Friday night, and on Saturday morning. Easily the largest special (train, was .the,-one from New, Plymouth' that arrived at 7.22 a.m. on Saturday with over 000 passengers, but within the space of a few hours a special from Namier' brought 422 passengers, one from Wanganui 462, one from Palmer-atoh••“North'-;450i one from Otaki 150, arid-■■'■dhe’tfronF Woodville via Wairarapa 150; “This’-Was quite exclusive: of the ordinary ' trains,’-which all --arrived fully loaded. Then there weire the -steamer crowds- .the South. , Jsland.. -. The Maori brought,soo passengers, from Lyttelton on Friday night., and the Matangi 300-from Nelson.’ Then. the. Tamahinc, making a special trip, brought 300 people from Picton,. , . . - In- order-to suit the convenience and wishes of these many thousands of out-side-'patrons special tram-cars were, run from, before - 6 a.m. on the day of the matpli.. But they did not by any means carry the first spectators to the park, for the first queues had formed outside the entrance gates at about 9.30 p.m. on Friday. How they survived their all night vigil in drizzling rain, and remained' in their seats for the whole of the following day, is almost past understanding. The gates, it had been, announced,. ,would not be opened until 9.30 a.m. oh Saturday, but as hundreds were waiting to gain admission long before that time the decision was waived. The greatest rush , for seats took place about 8.30 a.m., when the trams were for a time unable to cope with the traffic, and it was estimated that by 10 a.m. the crowd in the park numbered about 10,000. From then on, of course, it was one wild competition for places, but the authorities handled the traffic wonderfully well.

GOOD HUMOUR OF THE THRONG. In a •,general way, the outstanding characteristic of the waiting throng was its marvellous good humour, which .was in marked contrast to that as desciioed in reports of similar occasions elsewhere. No matter how weary, sore and cold patrons were during the long, long wait, in most cases they were cheerfulness personified, and could not do enough to make their neighbours more comfortable. Two curtain-raisers were staged to while away the time, and popular airs were broadcast from loud speakers situated in the caves of the pavilion. The most popular way of spending the waiting hours was to pelt with harmless missiles of all kinds, particularly orangeskins, the heads of people who refused to sit down. From the centre of the west bank floated the strains of a mouth organ. Many immersed themselves in magazines, and here, there and everywhere were vagrant schools of bridge, euchre and cribbage. jfroin time to time announcements wefo made through the loud speaker, sonic of them informative but most of them pleading. The south-west corner particularly offended. “Hello everybody. Will the people in the south-west corner kindly stand up and move along a little. EVen an inch will make all the difference. There are hundreds of people waiting to gain admittance. Come on. Be sporting. More along please.” The aputh'-west corner promptly rose as one man. and sat down again in tho same ’place.': ‘(Hello everybody. To provide for cases of; 'fainting ■or accident amongst' the croiwd Red Cross and St. John’s Ambulance men have been equipped and stationed in each corner of the ground. Wlicn their service is required, please draiw the attention of these officers by waving a handkerchief.” Immediately the' whole of the terraces grew alive with thdusarids of waving handkerchiefs. 'Fhe ariibulhifte nien grinned, and everybody chuckled at the joke. Actually, the. service later on proved very effective, and a number of genuine cases were attended to with dispatch in the manner Indicated. ,i PACKING OF THE CROWD. Further requests through tho loud speaker to stand up and pack in mo,e tightly met with a very generous reception. The crowd was certainly in obliging mood, and out to make the dajr°a °fine holiday for everyone. That west bank though; it was a little difliciilt. Attempts to get it to pack in a little closer met with ironic cheers, and ‘ the bank invariably rose in compliance, always to sit down again in the same There was a tumultous wclamation.. Then deadly silence. A ‘.tragedy had happened All the way from Poverty Bay, he had been sittin o 'there' on the inner scats since dawn. Crash! Someone had kicked himi in the pocket, and the bottle of perfectly gOO( "ale, treasured throughout the morning, foamed all over him, then on to the "ground, and was gone for good. A mild sensation was caused when an acronlano suddenly appeared overhead and after manoeuvring for position and 'testing tho wind dropped a sheaf of advertising leaflets. The operation was repeated several times, and tho pilots iud n ment being good' the 'curtain-raiser in progress at the time was temporality suspended while small boys swarmed all over tlio ground' in chase of their elusive -nrfcy as .it wafted downwards. ' As the time for the start of the .ng match grew near the crowd became ‘denser and denser, 1 and the police force along'‘"“the''bank” 'grawL “Ytaffd. Bias' ‘Tei'ti*breed. • Sections of the

crowd became restless, and a few fights ensued on the tightly-packed bank, where several efforts were made by men on the lower portion to scale an iron fence that runs lengthwise along the bank. They were aided and abetted by friends, who willingly hoisted them up shoulder high. Such assaults on the fence were, however, vigorously repulsed by the spectators in the front row above the fence. The common method of repulse was to rap the storming party sharply on the knuckles and then bodily push him down, but occasionally tempers, frayed with the long wait, became stretched and vigorous fisticuffs resulted, Almost invariably these bouts ended in favour of the defender.

People who stood up in their seats were not popular. Belinda of about 18 summers, rather conscious of her personal- attractiveness, stood airily on a form in the enclosure and jauntily surveyed the crowd behind her. “Ain’t we pretty?” sarcastically remarked one of the bank, when in the opinion of the crowd her length of stay on the form had outweighed her attractiveness. The shot had no effect, but Belinda was conquered by a well-directed bag of orango skins. At one stage, propelled by pressure from behind, a section of the crowd on the bank made a rush for the few icmaining seats in the enclosure and swarmed over the lower fence in one corner, but the police soon took charge.: Tho constables were very tactful, and controlled what at times might hai o grown into an ugly position most admirably, A pleasant interlude occurred when a number of ex-members of the Nev/ Zealand Army team in the main stand stood up and were introduced in turn to the spectators by the loud speaker. They were enthusiastically received. The most remarkable moment of the afternoon, apart from the match, was the arrival of the Governor-General a few minutes before the game began. His advent was announced through the. loud speaker by tho playing of the Royal Salute followed by the National Anthem. With one accord the crowd rose to its feet. Male heads were bared, and forty thousand voices joined warmly and gladly into the refrain. It was a memorable tribute to the mood of the huge concourse. ' Then tho game was on, and all thoughts of anything else were lost in the ©no engrossing object.